Hyperloop's first step bypasses Houston

Hyperloop's first step bypasses Houston

1of7Officials with the Dallas-Ft. Worth Regional Transportation Council visited the Nevada test site for Hyperloop One earlier this year.Photo: Sarah Lawson (Hyperloop One)

2of7Texas officials, led by the Dallas-Ft. Worth Regional Transportation Council, are moving ahead with studies of Hyperloop technology to connect Dallas and Fort Worth, while studying the feasibility of a plan to connect Fort Worth with Laredo.Photo: Courtesy Hyperloop One

4of7The proposal for a Hyperloop between Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas would include stops, similar to trains stations, in the metro areas, as shown in these renderings by AECOM.Photo: Rendering courtesy AECOM

5of7The Hyperloop Texas proposal would run above-ground and along existing rights of way, such as highways, according to AECOM.Photo: Rendering courtesy AECOM

6of7A recovery vehicle moves a sled down a track after a test of a Hyperloop One propulsion system on May 11, 2016, in North Las Vegas, Nev. Photo: John Locher, STF

7of7A recovery vehicle and test sled sit on a track after a test of a Hyperloop One propulsion system on May 11, 2016, in North Las Vegas, Nev. Photo: John Locher, STF

Efforts to a bring super-high-speed transportation system to Texas are moving ahead, but also poised to blow right past Houston as Dallas-area officials take the lead.

Officials with Virgin Hyperloop One and the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Transportation Council announced Wednesday that their plans to include hyperloop in a proposed Dallas-to-Fort Worth rail link. Further, the two will work on studying the feasibility of a longer line from Fort Worth to Laredo, passing through Waco, Austin and San Antonio.

“Virgin Hyperloop One is excited to pursue these projects, which would transform what are now separate metropolitan areas into one economic megaregion connected by high speed transport,” said Virgin Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd, in a statement.

North Central Texas Council of Governments transportation director Michael Morris on the possibilities for Hyperloop One in Texas.

Video: Sarah Lawson (Hyperloop One)

A Houston leg from San Antonio remains possible, but company officials said it is not part of the current projects.

Hyperloop relies on vacuum tubes and special pods for faster-than-flight travel speeds, at times estimated at around 670 mph. Between Dallas and Fort Worth, the system would reach about 360 mph, quickly accelerating and decelerating for the 30-mile trip, which will take six minutes.

Developed from a proposal by Elon Musk, the co-founder of electric car company Tesla and founder and lead designer for rocket-maker SpaceX, the system would require miles of above or below ground tunnels and stations where travelers could get on or off.

During the last two years, the company, which has built on Musk's proposal independently, has drawn interest worldwide in the systems, along with expanding its team to include Virgin Group and that firm’s founder, Richard Branson.

Throughout the growing, the company has continued to think of Texas as fertile turf for the technology.

“Texas has always been a place we have been interested in and it seems like a practical place to put the hyperloop system,” said Dan Katz, director of North American projects for Virgin Hyperloop One. “You have some large metro areas separated by a great deal of distance. And the topography of the state is flatter than a lot of places.”

Within Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth make an attractive starting point, he added.

“It is 30 miles from a populated place to another populated place,” Katz said.

While some have written off the idea as fantasy, others have said technology is rapidly making the system feasible, though costs remain unclear based on location and land values, along with a huge debate on the cost of building the line.

Musk has said a roughly 400-mile hyperloop between Los Angeles and San Francisco would cost $7.5 billion to build and outfit with capsules; others have said costs could be 10 times that.

Wednesday’s announcement fulfills part of the plan envisioned when Hyperloop Texas advanced in a global competition to develop the projects. The San Antonio-to-Houston leg left out of the process is among the busiest corridors in the state.

Katz said the company is proceeding based on where officials have shown interest, with North Texas officials promoting both the Dallas-Fort Worth and Fort Worth-to-Laredo lines. Dallas officials toured the company’s Nevada test site earlier this year.

Interest in a direct Dallas-to-Houston hyperloop has lagged, as Texas Central Partners has worked on a high-speed rail line between the metro areas.

Facing huge demands on travel between Texas’ biggest metro areas, however, officials across the state are looking at all options.

"Adding an option like hyperloop to the existing system of roadways, rail transit, bicycle/pedestrian facilities and high-speed rail to Houston would expand the system in an exciting way,” said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. “Connecting other regions in Texas through hyperloop would open up economic opportunities throughout the state.”